Wille Burton is a former professional NBA athlete, an accomplished state, national, and international program turnaround specialist, and a keynote speaker. He turns failing youth programs into nationally recognized programs. 

 

As a basketball player, Willie won two Michigan Class C State Championships. He then attended The University of Minnesota and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight. He was twice an All-Big Ten selection and team MVP three consecutive years. He was inducted into the Catholic High School; Michigan Basketball and the University of Minnesota retired his number 34. He received his B.S in Multi-Disciplinary Studies from the University of Minnesota with three areas of focus in communication, history and social science, and technology.

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Willie is a current NBA record holder who played for the Miami Heat, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs, and Charlotte Hornets. Willie uses his past experiences to provide students and parents with an applicable skill set, designed to aid in their decision-making process, resulting in positive and desired outcomes. In addition, he has worked with NBA Cares, NBA Team Awareness Program, NFL Play 60, the NHL and NCAA Tournament. Using this experience he developed Project Safe Campus, a program that has been approved by the Justice Department, FBI, Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education, where he worked with 8 counties with 400,000 students at K-12 schools.

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Willie is a national interscholastic certified coach and a National Interscholastic Athletic Administrator Training Instructor for Middle and High School. He was also a Sociology of Sports Assistant Instructor at Wayne State University where he completed his master’s degree.

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Willie is also the Founder of Excel U, evidence based behavioral change curriculum. Excel U is a university measured program that empowers students, student-athletes and the adults who guide them. Designed for grades K-12 in partnership with Starr Commonwealth and NASA Institute for Space Studies. Mr. Burton is a Director at the Michigan Physical Fitness Foundation and is appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Governors Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports. In January 2021, Mr. Burton received his Certification from NYU in Fundamentals of global sports management